36.3525, Calls: XIX CercleS Conference 2026: The Role of Language Centres in a Fast-Changing World: Responding to Emerging Needs in Society, Communication, and Learning (Italy)

Wed Nov 19 15:05:02 UTC 2025

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-3525. Wed Nov 19 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.3525, Calls: XIX CercleS Conference 2026: The Role of Language Centres in a Fast-Changing World: Responding to Emerging Needs in Society, Communication, and Learning (Italy)

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Date: 17-Nov-2025
From: Alessandra Fazio [alessandra.fazio at uniroma4.it]
Subject: XIX CercleS Conference 2026: The Role of Language Centres in a Fast-Changing World: Responding to Emerging Needs in Society, Communication, and Learning

Full Title: XIX CercleS Conference 2026: The Role of Language Centres
in a Fast-Changing World: Responding to Emerging Needs in Society,
Communication, and Learning
Short Title: CercleS26

Date: 10-Sep-2026 - 12-Sep-2026
Location: Rome, Italy
Contact Person: Alessandra Fazio

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Language
Acquisition; Sociolinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics
Subject Language(s): English (eng)
                     French (fra)
                     German (deu)
                     Italian (ita)
                     Spanish (spa)

Call Deadline: 27-Feb-2026

Call for Papers:
We are living in a transformative era, characterised by technological
innovation, social change, and widespread uncertainty. Global
transformations and digital acceleration are affecting education and
communication, opening new pathways for language teaching, learning,
and intercultural engagement. In these complex times, Language Centres
face growing demands: providing learners with effective communication
skills, supporting inclusive education, and fostering intercultural
understanding.
In today’s dynamic landscape, Language Centres are challenged to
redefine their roles and strategies in response to evolving
expectations, embrace new opportunities, and address the challenges
arising from changing modes of communication and shifting learner
identities, all while preserving linguistic and cultural diversity.
These developments invite broader reflection on the future of Language
Centres, focusing on how they can address emerging needs, anticipate
change, and actively shape the educational experiences of learners in
a fast-changing world. By fostering creativity, creative
co-intelligence, and transversal competencies, Language Centres can
promote collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation across
disciplines and communities. The integration of these elements
together with linguistic, intercultural, and digital competences might
be the key to shaping resilient, future-ready learning environments.
As David Little (2020) envisioned in his message for the new
millennium, Language Centres can serve as “beacons of good practice”
(by embracing and advancing plurilingualism, fostering learner
autonomy, and aligning curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in
meaningful ways).  This vision also highlights the “advocacy role” of
Language Centres to represent their needs and potential, and to be
recognised not merely as support structures, but as key contributors
to knowledge creation and educational innovation. This conference
invites us to reflect on: Where do we stand today, what progress has
been made, and how can we continue to realise this vision in a world
that is constantly evolving?
We invite contributions that explore theoretical, empirical, and
practical dimensions of how Language Centres can engage with
contemporary complexities and continue to empower learners in
meaningful, forward-looking ways.
Conference Themes
Key thematic areas include, but are not limited to:
1. Rethinking University Language Centres
a. Adapting to global and institutional change
b. Flexible delivery modes and diversified curricula
c. Lifelong learning and skills development
d. Future-focused leadership and strategic planning
e. Language Centres as spaces of innovation and knowledge creation
2. Multilingualism and Plurilingualism in Language Education
a. Multilingual and plurilingual contexts in higher education
b. Plurilingual and pluralistic approaches to teaching and learning
c. Integrating multilingualism and plurilingualism into curricula
d. Managing and teaching in multilingual classrooms
e. Developing teachers’ plurilingual competence
3. Language Policy, Identity, and Governance
a. European University Alliances and transnational strategies
b. Institutional and national language policies
c. Fostering plurilingual identities
d. Languages and democracy
4. Intercultural Communication and Competence
a. Integrating intercultural competence into curriculum design
b. Intercultural dialogue and intergenerational exchange
c. Internationalisation at home
d. Cultures in contact: from theory to practice
5. Global English
a. English-Medium Instruction (EMI) and its challenges
b. English as a lingua franca in academic and professional contexts
c. Varieties of English and global communication
d. Addressing native-speaker bias and promoting inclusive language use
6. Transformative Practices/approaches in Language Teaching and
Learning: AI and the Digital Era
a. The role of AI in language learning, teaching, and assessment
b. Digital tools, apps, and platforms for learner engagement
c. Theoretical and practical perspectives on pedagogical innovation
d. Multimodal and media-enhanced practices in language education
e. Critical and reflective approaches (e.g. critical literacy, CLIL)
f. Integrating emerging technologies and new learning environments
7. Creativity, Co-Intelligence, and Transversal Education
a. Cultivating creativity and innovation in language education
b. Developing transversal competences for collaboration,
problem-solving, and critical thinking
c. Creative co-intelligence: combining human creativity, collaborative
thinking, and AI-enhanced learning
d. Integrating artistic, intercultural, and interdisciplinary
approaches to language learning
e. Preparing learners for complex futures through creative and
holistic educational design
8. Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) and Teaching Methodologies
a. Motivation and active use of disciplinary knowledge
b. Needs analysis and learner-centred teaching strategies
c. Corpus-based, content-based, and interdisciplinary approaches
d. Flexible paths and authentic resources for specific purposes
9. Professional Growth of Language Centre Teachers and Staff
a. Enhancing professional competences and expertise
b. Promoting research, scholarship, and innovation within Language
Centres
c. Leadership and collaborative practices
d. Inclusion and wellbeing in academic communities
e. Recruitment, retention, and career progression
10. Language Diversity and Sustainable Course Design
a. Promoting and preserving minority, heritage, and home languages
b. Recognising the value of linguistic and cultural diversity
c. Fostering (plurilingual) intercultural identities
d. Designing sustainable, long-term learning pathways
11. Assessment and Testing
a. Assessment practices and quality assurance in higher education
b. Learning-oriented vs. competence-based approaches
c. Ensuring fairness, transparency, and validity in assessment
d. Language testing in AI era
e. Assessing multilingual and plurilingual competences
12. Collaborative and Inclusive Learning
a. Empowering autonomous and lifelong learners
b. Building communities of practice and knowledge exchange
c. International and virtual mobility for language learning
d. Inclusive and accessible learning environments
Abstracts:
Abstracts must be submitted in two languages: 1) A main abstract (250
and 300 words) in one the official conference languages (Italian,
English, French, German, or Spanish), and 2) a shorter summary (100
words) in any other language of your choice. Please include the
following information:
 - Presenter(s) name, including identified lead presenter for contact
purposes
 - Institution and email address
 - Biographical note (80-100 words)
 - Submission format (see below)
 - Title
 - Conference theme (1-12 as above)
 - Abstract in primary language (250-300 words)
 - A short abstract in second language (100 words)
 - 3-5 keywords
Both the main abstract in one of the official conference languages
(Italian, English, French, German, or Spanish) and the short summary
in the second language will be published.
We invite the following formats:
 - Oral presentation, by individuals or small groups of individuals,
of 20 minutes duration (plus 10 minutes for questions).
 - Interactive workshops, of up to 60 minutes duration
 - Poster presentations, especially from postgraduate students and
early career academic colleagues. Formats for posters will be
communicated.
Poster presentations may be created in any of the languages of the
conference (Italian, English, French, German, or Spanish), or in any
other language. If you encounter a poster in a language you do not
understand, you can use your mobile device with Google Lens to get a
general idea of its content. In addition, authors will be available to
answer questions in one of the official conference languages.
Scientific Committee (to be finalized):
CercleS Executive and Coordinating Committee members
Steering Committee:
Members of the Steering Committee as proposed by the AICLU:
Carmen Argondizzo
Thomas Wulstan Christiansen
Chiara Degano
Alessandra Fazio
Elisabetta Marino
Enrica Rossi
Cesare Zanca

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